If you said they all voted for Trump -- based partly on fabricated "issues" like unfair practices perpetrated by foreign countries in trade deals -- well, you'd be right.

But if you also said those same states -- which made up more than half his Electoral College votes -- were the ones who'd most be adversely affected by his determination to destroy the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), you'd be even more right.*

Yes, it's true. According to the Financial Post (not exactly a left-wing publication): "...(these are) the states exporting the most to Canada and Mexico in total dollars, or as a percentage of their overall global exports."

But hey -- your very own president says Canada is "very unfair". You have to believe him, right? I mean, he wouldn't lie about that yuuuuuge trade deficit the US has with my country, would he?

Well, yes. Yes, in fact, he would and did.

Let's ignore for the moment long-standing absurdities like the "reasoning" behind the continuing softwood lumber surcharge (smacked down numerous times to no avail) or Boeing's fatuous attack on Bombardier over subsidies for aircraft they don't even have a competitor for.

No, let's see what your very own Office of the United States Trade Representative. What was that again? Oh, yes: "the U.S. has a trade surplus (italics mine) with Canada, to the amount of US$12 billion." (Statistics Canada agrees with that figure.)

So, Lord of the Lies, grab a so-far useless F35 -- it’s already cost your country (and other fools, like Canada) $400 billion in development costs (read, subsidies) according to the US Government Accountability Office, which is twice what it was supposed to be by now -- and jam it sideways.

Go right ahead. Pull out of NAFTA, and see who howls first and loudest. I'll be over there in the corner, snickering sovietly.

* In the interest of full disclosure, I vehemently opposed the original Free Trade Agreement and, later, NAFTA itself. Why I was so adamant is irrelevant to this discussion. And yes, it will hurt Canadians too to do so now, including my family's business (although I have no part in said business).

People don’t get NAFTA. We knew at the outset we’d lose jobs to Mexico. That was the idea, not that we’d lose the jobs, but that the jobs we lost would go to Mexico rather than Asia. The reason we wanted them in Mexico, aside from lower logistical costs and easier management access, is that Mexico buys American but Asia does far less so. In other words, jobs in Mexico generated more jobs here.

But that’s a bit hard to track so as people will notice because the jobs that left were concentrated but the jobs that came from Mexican demand were diffuse.

All true, but, just to Cherry Pick- how could those motherfuckers in Michigan vote against the Dems after Obama SAVED THEIR WHOLE ECONOMY VIA THE AUTO INDUSTRY BAIL OUT?????

These are some dumb hating mf's, but those militia types up close to your border take the cake and they are the one's who swung this election to Putin ... the worst thing about it was the Math, it was specifically done through overlaying algorithms on Facebook etc. because those hating scum are so easy to manipulate and predict. Khrushchev and Brezhnev and Stalin himself must be so proud in their Tombs, the Russkies ought to be lining up to lay flowers on them just like back during the Cold War Kids days so many of us grew up in. Fluoride, anyone? Flint could use some.

of course he is lying he's pissed at Canada because Trudeau is more popular than him and south of the border Mexico's 2 largest employers, the drug cartels, think because of the legalization of marijuana their trade surplus is in jeopardy. The Bombardier/Boeing spat began when Bombardier procured an order for it's C-Series jet to Delta Airlines. The jet was yet to be in production and the bid was secured by the Canadian government in violation of trade law. The idiot of course added this typical anti trust litigation to the soft wood lumber SCANDAL because of course American homes were being framed by cheaper inferior Canadian softwood lumber. That's why there are so many crooked 2x4's at Home Depot. I'm not making any of this up Trump did.

On a serious note NAFTA did need to be renegotiated and should be changed to reflect today's economic challenges and be fair to all and negotiations are a good start. It is also my opinion that the US will join the TPP negotiations later this year the only obstacle is Trump, hopefully before long he'll be negotiating his resignation and the world can return to practical normal. How about that Tesla floating in space.......I'm smiling. My best as always..................o/e

the bigger question is can he handle the truth and when he finally realizes that 97% of the world population hates him will he remember the codes or blame the black guy first

Renegotiating NAFTA might make sense but not in the environment of trying to make Mexico pay for a wall we didn’t need in the first place.

Trudeau is more popular but his followers wouldn’t excuse his shooting anyone on Fifth Avenue, even though it’s south of the border.

The TPP issue is a clause allowing companies to sue governments over interfering with their profits, which gives corporations the ultimate right to reverse domestic environmental law. If that weren’t in there it probably would have been ratified before Trump.

this morning Ive been watching the news, one segment with. reporters interviewing nunes constituents who state theyll probably vote for THAT idiot again. One of them dropped th. "fake news" trope.

its official.

We are living in stupidland.

We could write lots about the stupids, mock, hate, look down upon them and sneer.

But how to win this thing? How to counter this madness?

one person pointed out when asked about Russia, that this is akk the news talks about. I have to agree. Its russia from one news show to the next to the next, all day every day. Its becoming grey news.

Its an important story, but like every other important story its beaten to death until you cant hear another word about it. its nonstop and invisible.

I guess we start with Parkland. We have to start with Parkland anyway. Even if we don’t approach this cynically, Parkland activism will have two consequences:

1. It will get our people off their asses. Nobody young is going to be passive in the face of the Parkland kids. Oddly enough, this will be centered initially around high school students, not college students. However, the walkout might jump the line from high schools to colleges and universities. If that happens, it gets people who are old enough to vote off their asses. We don’t have to introduce another issue. All we need is generalized young engagement and the rest will take care of itself. If a bunch of kids get active for the first time, the second time will be a lot easier, and self-expectations will change.

2. It will shake up the center. A lot of the money people may cross over on this issue, depending in part on how successful Hoffman is. Once the concept of limits is introduced functionally, it doesn’t stuff back into the bag so easily. Other issues could reach the table. There are a lot of respects in which, when it comes to Trump, Enough Is Enough. And it may shake up the center just because the Parkland kids are pretty hard to answer. Their case is both too passionate and too good, and brushing them off could prove politically dangerous.